Numerical modeling techniques commonly used to compute the response of soil and rock media under earthquake shaking are evaluated by analyzing the observations provided by instrumented borehole arrays. The NIED Kik-Net database in Japan is selected as the main source of borehole array data for this study. The stiffness of the site and the availability of high intensity motions are the primary factors considered towards the selection of appropriate Kik-Net borehole arrays for investigation. Overall, 13 instrumented vertical arrays are investigated using over 750 recorded ground motions characterized by low (less than 0.05 g) to high (greater than 0.3 g) recorded peak ground accelerations at the downhole sensor. Based on data from the selected borehole arrays, site response predictions using 1-D linear elastic (LE) analysis, equivalent linear (EQL) analysis, equivalent linear analysis with frequency-dependent soil properties (EQL-FD), and fully nonlinear analysis (NL) are compared with the borehole observations. Initially, the low intensity motions are used to evaluate common assumptions regarding 1-D site response analysis. First, we identify the borehole wavefield best simulating the actual boundary condition at depth by comparing the theoretical linear-elastic (LE) and observed responses. Then, we identify the best-fit small-strain damping profiles that can incorporate the additional in-situ attenuation mechanisms. Finally, we assess the validity of the one-dimensional modeling assumption. Our analyses indicate that the appropriate boundary condition for analysis of a borehole array depends on the depth of the borehole sensor and that, for most of the considered vertical arrays, the one-dimensional assumption reasonably simulates the actual wave propagation pattern. In the second part of this study, we evaluate the accuracy of the EQL, EQL-FD and NL site response methods by quantifying the misfit (i.e., residual) between the simulations and observations at different levels of shaking. The evaluation of the performance of the theoretical models is made both on a site-by-site basis and in an aggregated manner. Thereafter, the variability in the predicted response from the three site response methods is assessed. Comparisons with the observed responses indicate that the misfit of simulations can be significant at short periods and large strains. Moreover, all models seem to be characterized by the same level of variability irrespectively of the level of shaking. Finally, several procedures that can be used to improve the accuracy of the one-dimensional EQL, EQL-FD and NL site response analyses, are investigated. First, an attempt to take into account the shear strength of the soil materials at large shear strains is made. Additionally, several modifications to the EQL-FD approach are proposed. The proposed modifications are evaluated against recordings from the borehole arrays. Our analyses indicate that the accuracy of the theoretical models can be, partly, increased by incorporating the proposed modifications. / text

Electron dynamics in atoms and molecules occurs on a time-scale of attoseconds (10⁻¹⁸s). With the availability of strong field (∼ 10¹²- 10¹³ W cm⁻²) femtosecond (10⁻¹⁵s) laser pulses with electric fields that can reach and exceed the Coulomb field strength experienced by an electron in the ground state of an atom, it is now possible to generate even shorter pulses with durations on the order of attoseconds by the process of high-harmonic generation (HHG). In this dissertation, experiments to study electron dynamics on attosecond time-scales in a helium atom using attosecond pulses generated by HHG will be described. We use extreme-ultraviolet (XUV) attosecond pulse trains and strong femtosecond near-infrared (IR) laser pulses to excite and ionize helium atoms. We first discuss an experimental technique that allows us to quantify and reduce the detrimental effects of Gouy phase slip on attosecond XUV-IR experiments. We then discuss our experiments to study the dynamic behavior of electronic states in a strong field modified helium atom where we use attosecond pulses to explore the strong-field modified atomic landscape. Using the Floquet theory to interpret our experimental observations we measure the variation in quantum phase of interferences between different fourier components of Floquet states as the IR intensity is varied and as different ionization channels dominate, in real-time. Next, we briefly discuss quantum interferences between photo-electrons ionized from XUV excited states in helium using an IR field which is polarized orthogonal to the XUV polarization. We observe variation in angular distribution of photo-electrons as a function of XUV-IR time-delay. We then discuss a new technique to measure the time-of-birth of attosecond pulses using XUV+IR photo-ionization in helium as a measurement probe. Finally, experiments to study the evolution of XUV excited wave-packets in helium on a time-scale of 100's of femtoseconds with attosecond resolution will be described.

Aerogels are extremely high surface area, low density materials with applications including thermal and acoustic insulators, radiation detectors and cometary dust particle traps. However, their low density and aggregate structure makes them extremely fragile and practically impossible to machine or handle without breaking. This has led to the development of aerogel composites with enhanced mechanical properties through the addition of polymers or surface modifiers. To date, attempts to strengthen aerogels have come with significant increases in density and processing time. Here I will describe our search for a solution to these problems with our invention using methyl cyanoacrylate chemical vapor deposition (CVD) to strengthen silica, aminated silica and bridged polysilsesquioxane aerogels. This approach led to a strength improvement of the composites within hours and the strongest composite prepared had a 100x strength improvement over the precursor aerogel. We also developed the first approach to control the molecular weight of the polymers that reinforce silica aerogels using surface-initiated atom transfer radical polymerization (SI-ATRP). Although PMMA reinforcement of silica aerogels improved the mechanical properties, further strength improvements were achieved by cross-linking the grafted PMMA. Additionally, we developed the first silica aerogels reinforced with polyaniline nanofibers that were strong and electrically conductive. Reinforcing silica aerogels with polyaniline allowed them to be used as a sensor for the detection of protonating and deprotonating gaseous species. Finally we developed a new approach for the synthesis of silica and bridged polysilsesquioxane spheres using a surfactant free synthesis. This approach allowed for the first in-situ incorporation of base sensitive functionalities during the sol-gel polymerization.

Flameless combustion in a 48 kW pilot scale furnace fired with natural gas is studied experimentally and computationally. The burner geometry involved a tunnel furnace with two separate feed streams --- one for a high momentum air jet and the other for a low momentum fuel jet. This burner configuration, called a Strong-Jet/Weak-Jet (SJWJ) burner, together with the jetto- jet interactions generate the flameless combustion mode with relatively uniform furnace gas temperature distributions and low NOX emissions. Experiments were carried out under laboratory conditions for turbulent reactive mixing in order to obtain local temperature and gas concentrations. The experimental findings were used to test the performance of CFD numerical models for turbulence, mixing and chemical reactions. For the SJWJ furnace operated in flameless combustion mode, 32 different flow cases were examined to assess the effects of the three main parameters (fuel/air momentum flux ratio, fuel/air nozzle separation distance and fuel injection angle) on the furnace wall temperature profile. Three specific flow configurations were selected for detailed near-field temperature measurements. The gas temperature distribution inside the combustion chamber was found to be relatively uniform, a characteristic of flameless combustion. Four flow configurations were studied to examine the effect of the fuel jet injection angle (0 degrees or 10 degrees) and fuel/air momentum flux ratio (0.0300 and 0.0426) on the mixing, combustion performance and NOX emissions. Gas compositions were measured in the flue gas and within the furnace at selected locations to estimate the concentrations of CO2 CO, CH4, O2, NO and NOX. The NOX concentrations in the flue gas were quite low, ranging from 7 - 13 ppm, another characteristic of flameless combustion. The combusting flow CFD calculations were carried out using the k-ε turbulence model and the eddy-dissipation model for methane-air-2-step reactions to predict the temperature and concentration field. The numerical results for gas temperature and compositions of CH4, O2 and CO2 generally showed good agreement with the experimental data. The predicted CO concentration profiles followed expected trends but the experimental data were generally underpredicted. The NOX concentrations were estimated through post-processing and these results were significantly underpredicted. / Thesis (Ph.D, Mechanical and Materials Engineering) -- Queen's University, 2008-04-04 11:25:25.455

Multiple lines of evidence suggest that elevated plasma lipoprotein(a) (Lp(a)) concentrations are a significant risk factor for the development of a number of vascular diseases including coronary heart disease and stroke. Lp(a) consists of a low-density lipoprotein (LDL)-like moiety and an unique glycoprotein, apolipoprotein(a) (apo(a)), that is covalently attached to the apolipoproteinB-100 (apoB-100) component of LDL by a single disulfide bond. Many studies have suggested a role for Lp(a) in the process of endothelial dysfunction. Indeed, Lp(a) has been shown to increase both the expression of adhesion molecules on endothelial cells (EC), as well as monocyte and leukocyte chemotactic activity in these cells. We have previously demonstrated that Lp(a), through its apo(a) moiety, increases actomyosin-driven EC contraction which, as a consequence, increases EC permeability. In this thesis, we have demonstrated a role for the strong lysine-binding site in the kringle IV type 10 domain of apo(a) in increasing EC permeability, which occurs through a Rho/Rho kinase-dependent pathway. We have further validated these findings using mouse mesenteric arteries in a pressure myograph system. We also have dissected another major signaling pathway initiated by apo(a) that involves in a disruption of adherens junctions in EC. In this pathway, apo(a)/Lp(a) activates the PI3K/Akt/GSK3β-dependent pathway to facilitate nuclear translocation of beta-catenin. In the nucleus beta-catenin induced the expression of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) and the secretion of prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) from the EC. Finally, we have presented data to suggest a novel inflammatory role for apo(a) in which it induces the activation of nuclear factor-kappaB through promotion of the dissociation of IkappaB from the inactive cytoplasmic complex; this allows the nuclear translocation of NFkappaB with attendant effects on the transcription of pro-inflammatory genes. Taken together, our findings may facilitate the development of new drug targets for mitigating the harmful effects of Lp(a) on vascular EC which corresponds to an early step in the process of atherogenesis. / Thesis (Ph.D, Biochemistry) -- Queen's University, 2009-09-22 19:24:04.594

No description available.

This thesis investigates strengthening slender steel columns with carbon fibre reinforced polymer (CFRP) plates of various moduli. Three different types of CFRP were used in the study: Ultra-high modulus (430GPa), High modulus (212GPa) and Normal modulus (168GPa). In this study, specimens were grouped according to measured initial out-of-straightness values. The first section examines the effect of adding CFRP plates to the column flanges when buckling about the weak axis. Twelve columns, with a slenderness ratio of 197, were tested, of which nine were strengthened with CFRP. The main parameters tested were the level of initial out-of-straightness (length (L)/8387 to L/1020), CFRP modulus (168 to 430 GPa), CFRP reinforcement ratio (13% to 34%) and the length of CFRP plate (33% to 95% of L). The gain in axial strength due to CFRP retrofitting ranged from 11% to 29%, depending on the various parameters. The gain generally increased as CFRP modulus, initial out-of-straightness, or CFRP reinforcement ratio increased. Global buckling consistently governed the maximum load. In the case of the 430 GPa CFRP, buckling was followed by CFRP crushing in compression, then rupture in tension. The second section of the thesis examines the effect of CFRP plates added to the flanges and tested for buckling in the strong axis. Eight columns, with a slenderness ratio of 83, were tested of which five were strengthened with CFRP. The main parameters examined were the level of initial out-of-straightness (L/28889 to L/1635), CFRP modulus (168 to 430 GPa), CFRP reinforcement ratio (13% to 34%) and the axis of bending. The gain in axial strength due to CFRP retrofitting ranged from 0% to 25%, depending on the various parameters. The gain generally increased as initial out-of-straightness, or CFRP reinforcement ratio increased. The higher modulus did not perform as expected, showing no gain in strength, because the compressive strains were too large and the CFRP crushed before the specimen experienced any gain. Specimens compared with the weak axis, strengthened with normal modulus CFRP, had similar percentage gains in strength. / Thesis (Master, Civil Engineering) -- Queen's University, 2014-06-27 15:19:03.397

This paper starts where previous research in this scientific field, research about individuals who managed to end their criminal lifestyle, ends – by talking in terms of Pierre Bourdieu’s forms of capital. In former studies the researchers pointed out access to a job and parenting as helpful factors to end a criminal lifestyle. Our purpose with this paper, however, was to find out if it is possible to understand criminals successfully ending their criminal lifestyle from Bourdieu’s capital metaphors and Mark Granovetter’s concept of strong and weak ties. The empirical data consists of interviews with a life story perspective by eight members of an organization called KRIS (Criminals Return Into Society). All the interviewees included in this study have managed to end their respective criminal lifestyle. The results indicate that our interviewees had help in their ending of the criminal lifestyle by access to or by establishing social capital. The social capital in the interviewees’ cases were constituted by on one hand strong ties, on the other hand weak ties. In a couple of cases both types of ties were involved. Nevertheless, the results indicate that the social capital itself cannot make an ending of the criminal lifestyle possible. The following factors in the individual’s life has to be fulfilled in order to end his or hers criminal lifestyle: (1) exhort a strong motive inside him-/herself, (2) accept no drug use of any kind and (3) carry through a switch of field from the criminal society to the conventional.

In this thesis, a leading-order QCD analysis of structure functions in neutrinonucleon interactions is performed. From the CCFR nucleon structure function data, the QCD parameter Lambda has been extracted. This measurement also corresponds to a measurement of the strong coupling constant. Two fits to the data have been performed, the nonsinglet-only fit and the singlet-nonsinglet combined fit. The result for Lambda was found to be 289 +62 &iexcl / 59 &sect / 76 MeV, where the errors are statistical and systematical, respectively. This result is compared to the world-wide measurements of this quantity. In order to verify the agreement, also the logarithmic slopes of the QCD model and the structure function data are calculated and compared.

We study the spin dynamics in a high-mobility two dimensional electron gas (2DEG) system with generic spin-orbit interactions (SOIs). We derive a set of spin dynamic equations which capture the purely exponential to the damped oscillatory spin evolution modes observed in different regimes of SOI strength. Hence we provide a full treatment of the D'yakonov-Perel's mechanism by using the microscopic linear response theory from the weak to the strong SOI limit. We show that the damped oscillatory modes appear when the electron scattering time is larger than half of the spin precession time due to the SOI, in agreement with recent observations. We propose a new way to measure the scattering time and the relative strength of Rashba and linear Dresselhaus SOIs based on these modes and optical grating experiments. We discuss the physical interpretation of each of these modes in the context of Rabi oscillation. In the finite temperature, We study the spin dynamics in the presence of impurity and electron-electron (e-e) scattering in a III-V semiconductor quantum well. Starting from the Keldysh formalism, we develop the spin-charge dynamic equation at finite temperature in the presence of inelastic scattering which provide a new approach to describe the spin relaxation from the weak to the strong spin-orbit coupling (SOC) regime. In the weak SOC regime, our theory shows that when the system is near the SU(2) symmetry point, because the spin relaxation due to DP mechanism is suppressed dramatically, the spin relaxation is dominated by the Elliott-Yafet (EY) mechanism in a wide temperature regime. The non-monotonic temperature dependence of enhanced-lifetime of spin helix mode is due to the competition between the DP and EY mechanisms. In the strong SOC regime, the our theory is consistent to the previous theoretical results at zero temperature.